He said any candidate is entitled to a full recount, but considering Mr Roche's position in the count it represents a significant waste of resources. He said power doesn't give up easily.

Fine Gael's Andrew Doyle said he didn't think the recount would materially change the outcome of the Wicklow election. He warned that a further recount may materialise when the last seat is being fought for.

1908 Labour’s Justice Spokesperson Pat Rabbitte has said it would be difficult for Fine Gael to discuss Ireland's economic situation with European counterparts, if the government were dependent on Independents.

Mr Rabbitte said it was vital in the national interest that there was a considered, thoughtful and prepared case for Ireland's participation in upcoming meetings in Europe.

1907 Fine Gael Spokesperson for Communications Leo Varadkar has refused to rule out the possibility of his party forming a government with like-minded Independents.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio, Mr Varadkar said his party needed to form a government relatively soon, but that government had to be an effective government.

He said he didn't think anybody wanted to put together a programme for government in a hurry that was not in the interests of the State.

1900 Wicklow: After the 13th count, none of the candidates had reached the quota of 11,764 and so outgoing Fianna Fáil Minister Dick Roche was eliminated.

However, returning officer Patricia Casey announced that Mr Roche had called for a full recount.

This was because just three votes separated Mr Roche and his running mate, Cllr Pat Fitzgerald from Arklow.

Ms Casey said the count would adjourn and the recount would begin tomorrow morning.

1843 David McCullagh: In Wicklow, after 12 counts, none of the five seats have yet been filled.

This is another constituency set to return three Fine Gael TDs; Labour should take a seat, unless the two lower placed candidates give a very bad transfer to leading Labour candidate Anne Ferris.

The final seat should be between Sinn Féin's John Brady and Independent Stephen Donnelly.

1841 Laois-Offaly: The returning officer has said she has agreed to a request from Fine Gael candidate Liam Quinn for a FULL re-examination and recount of the votes after the result of the tenth count.

The count showed a margin of just 26 votes between Mr Quinn and the Fianna Fáil candidate John Moloney.

Mr Quinn is due to be eliminated next, but has now sought the full recount.

The returning officer, Verona Lambe, has adjourned the count until 7.15pm when she says she will announce whether she intends to start the full recount tonight, or in the morning.

1833 Wicklow: There will be a FULL recount beginning tomorrow at 9am.

This is a result of a request from Fianna Fáil's Dick Roche after he was eliminated on the 13th count.

1833 Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar says his party will be seven short of a majority and there would be enough Independent TDs (excluding ULA) to do a deal with.

1830 Labour’s Pat Rabbitte says that it is Fine Gael's privilege to decide who to form the next government with.

1813 It is virtually unprecedented for a cabinet to be wiped out by the electorate in the way this one was, says David Davin-Power.

Sean Whelan, meanwhile, says there is a race against time to form a new government.

1812 David Davin-Power says Labour has to produce a deal that softens the blow of implementing Fine Gael policies.

1713 Cork South Central: Defeated Green Party candidate Dan Boyle has tweeted: ‘Taking time out. Obviously very disappointed. Making no decisions yet other than I will keep this account open.’

1707 Laois-Offaly: Fine Gael says a recount is now on the cards in Tullamore as FG’s Liam Quinn trails John Moloney of Fianna Fáil in count 10 by 16 votes.

1659 David McCullagh: In the last hour, the count in Carlow-Kilkenny finished, with Fine Gael taking the final three seats - Fianna Fáil and Labour had one each.

A recount continues in Galway East to determine if a Fine Gael or an Independent candidate is eliminated next, and a full recount is to begin in Galway West at 1830 - just 56 votes separate Fine Gael's Fidelma Healy Eames from her party colleague Seán Kyne.

1653 Wicklow: No candidate has reached quota after count 12. Labour's Conal Kavanagh eliminated. His 3,503 votes are now being redistributed.

1647: Laois-Offaly: Excluded Independent John Leahy leaves count in distressed state after family members console him.

1644 Wicklow: Labour’s Conal Kavanagh has been eliminated after the 12th count.

1642 Wicklow: Sinn Féin candidate John Brady suggests he could take the third seat. There are also doubts emerging about certainty of a Labour seat.

1635 Laois-Offaly: The next count is due in half an hour.

1625 Carlow-Kilkenny: Fine Gael’s JP Phelan, Phil Hogan and Pat Deering have been elected on the 13th and final count.

1625 Wexford: Newly-elected Independent TD Mick Wallace has expressed his thanks to the people of Wexford for their overwhelming support.

The property developer said: ‘It's not easy to put into words what has happened.

‘I feel a huge responsibility to the people of Wexford who have shown the courage to look for change and I do not carry it lightly.

‘I want to say thank you to the people of Wexford, who have now given me the opportunity of bringing a new approach.’

1617 Sinn Féin President and TD for Louth Gerry Adams said Fianna Fáil would be very welcome in Northern Ireland.

He also said the realignment of Irish politics could now begin on this side of the island.

1615Fine Gael's Fidelma Healy Eames requested the full recount in the Galway West constituency.

Returning Officer Marian Chambers Higgins has acceded to the request and the count has been adjourned until 6:30pm when the recount of all ballot bundles will begin.

1554 David McCullagh: The last four in Laois-Offaly look like one Fianna Fáil, one Sinn Fein, one Fine Gael, and either Fianna Fáil or Labour for the last seat.

Wicklow is likely to be the last constituency finished, and looks set to return three Fine Gael and one Labour, with either Sinn Féin or an Independent to take the last seat.

1553 Laois-Offaly: There is no recount after the ninth count. Independent John Leahy accepts defeat and is eliminated.

1553 Fianna Fáil has been reduced to just one TD in Dublin - Finance Minister Brian Lenihan - after Mary Hanafin lost her seat in Dún Laoghaire.

So far, 24 constituencies have no Fianna Fáil TDs, including those in Waterford, Tipperary, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Meath and Kerry.

1552 Galway West: Derk Nolan's surplus of 329 votes is now being distributed. Two of the of five seats have now been filled.

1545 Laois-Offaly: Independent John Leahy has been excluded after the ninth count.

1543 Galway West: Labour's Derek Nolan has taken the second seat.

1540 Galway West: Labour's Derek Nolan is expecting to take the second seat following the tenth count.

1539 Wicklow: The Green Party's Niall Byrne & Independent Peter Dempsey have been eliminated following the 11th count.Mr Byrne's 1,113 votes & Mr Dempsey's 1,673 votes are now being redistributed. No candidate has yet been elected in Wicklow.

1537: Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said he will be sitting in Dáil and actively taking part.

Mr Adams said he would consider going into government with Fine Gael, and then very swiftly dismiss it.

‘We are not about putting Fine Gael into power.’

1534 Kerry South: Michael Gleeson of the South Kerry Independent Alliance says his organisation has fought the good fight and leaves the centre with its honour undiminished.

1526 Labour's Joan Burton says she believes that women have experience for government, because they are the ones who bear the brunt of heartache when their children emigrate.

1522 Wicklow: The 585 and 472 votes of Independents Nicky Kelly and Donal Kiernan are being redistributed in an 11th count.

There are rumours that Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and his Fine Gael counterpart Enda Kenny could put in appearances at Wicklow count later.

Also, SF reportedly has legal advisers at the count centre.

1517 Carlow-Kilkenny: Labour’s Ann Phelan and Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness have been elected on the 12th count.

Mr McGuiness was elected with 12,630 votes, while Ann Phelan got 14,160 votes.

1418 Michael Martin has said be believes he is the right person to lead Fianna Fáil in the future.

Mr Martin said that despite the the party’s disappointing performance in the election the feedback he has gotten has been extremely positive.

He said that in many cases Fianna Fail candidates had been the ‘last man standing’ and missed out by just a few hundred votes and he said this put the party in a strong position to rebuild and renew and that the party would give this ‘everything we have’.

1417 Laois Offaly: Fine Gael's Charlie Flanagan says he is very confident that they will win two seats there but he wouldn't call the last seat.

Mr Flanagan said he hopes that negotiations about a coalition would start quickly.

1412 Wicklow: Independent Gerry Kinsella eliminated on ninth count.

1409 David McCullagh: The final seat in Dún Laoghaire looks set to be a fight between Fianna Fáil's Mary Hanafin and Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit, with Minister Hanafin expected to lose out, leaving just one Fianna Fáil TD, Brian Lenihan, in the capital.

No formal confirmation yet of any contacts on the formation of a new Government - but a coalition between Fine Gael and Labour remains the most likely option.

1402 Kerry South: Jackie Healy-Rae and his son, candidate Michael Healy-Rae, are still awaiting results in their constituency

South Kerry: Independent Michael Healy Rae objected very much to being linked with Fianna Fáil. He said he was never elected for any political party and he is an Independent.

He would not discuss whether he might join or offer support to a reduced Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

If Fine Gael looked for a coalition with the Independents, he said he would look into the opportunity.

1320Dún Laoghaire clarification: This morning the returning officer for Dún Laoghaire issued clarification of figures announced in the original count. This minor clarification resulted in a slight adjustment to the figures, but no change to the overall result up to that point, which was count nine and the exclusion of Labour’s Ivana Bacik.

However, that corrected result is still subject to a recheck of Ivana Bacik, Sean Barrett and Richard Boyd Barrett’s votes currently under way.

Until that process is complete, the exclusion of Ivana Bacik has not been officially confirmed, however it is expected that this will be confirmed once the recheck is complete.

1256 Wicklow: Independent Charlie Keddy has been eliminated on the sixth count

1223 Micheál Martin says FF's view is that Michael McGrath will be successful in Cork South Central

1220 Cork South Central: Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer has been elected on the 11th count.

1219 Micheál Martin says they are going to carve out a new era for Fianna Fáil.

1217Sinn Féin tends to play politics in terms of party advancement, says Micheál Martin. He says the economic credibility of Sinn Féin is a huge issue.

1216 Fianna Fáil can and will survive 'of that I‘ve no doubt', says Mr Martin. He said the party accepts the democratic decision of the people and they will respond to that in the coming weeks and months.

1214 Mr Martin says he can rebuild the party and that he is linked with many good things in the past.

1213 Wicklow: Michael Mulvihill excluded on the fifth count.

1212 Micheál Martin says the only way for Fianna Fáil now is up, as far as he is concerned.

1208 Micheál Martin live now on RTÉ One Television / online

1207 Michael Healy Rae says he rejects the term 'gombeen politics' that is being used to describe the way Independents have secured their deals with former governments.

He said when an urban TD delivers for the inner city he's a hero, when it happened down the country, it was 'gombeen politics.'

1206 Labour’s Ciaran Lynch believes Michael McGrath will hold out for the final seat saying ‘he won't make a quota, but he will be the last one standing’.

‘What we seen (sic) on the doorsteps is people want to see a balanced and a fair government.’

He says it is earlydays to be looking at a coalition but negotiations will be set up.

1159 Fine Gael's John O'Mahony says: 'We made history here in Mayo to bring in four seats.'

'It was a risky strategy to go for the four seats… but when you win you are always right and it worked out for us on this occasion.'

1156 Fine Gael's Simon Coveney was elected in Cork South Central with 10,872 votes. 'This is a fantastic story for Fine Gael,' he said.

'We have a huge responsibility now, as well as a huge mandate, not only to put a government together, but to follow through on the commitments we made during this campaign. People need to judge Enda Kenny on his achievements.

'We will see a decisive period over the next three or four days and that's a good thing because the country no longer needs more indecisive dithering.'

1153 Coverage of the count continued at 11am on RTÉ Television. You can watch it live at the top of this page.

1124 Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny says: 'The gulf and the divide that was created between the people and government - that will not be allowed to continue. The next government belongs to the people, is of the people and is clearly going to work for the people.

'The pledges we have given in our five point plan, over the last number of weeks, are ones that we intend to follow through with.'

1010 Kerry South: Count has resumed. No TDs have yet been elected in this constituency.

1003 Enda Kenny addresses party members at a Dublin hotel last night

1000 Cork South Central: Labour's Ciarán Lynch has been elected on the ninth count.

0929 Cork South Central: Counting has resumed. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was elected on the first count Saturday.

0923 Carlow-Kilkenny: Counting has resumed. No TDs have yet been elected in this constituency.

0923 Galway West: Counting has resumed. No TDs have yet been elected in this constituency.

0921 Laois-Offaly: Counting has resumed. No TDs have yet been elected in this constituency.

0906: Galway East: Counting has resumed. No TDs have yet been elected in this constituency.

0850 For 34 constituencies it is all over, but for nine there is plenty more of this left to do

0844 The Carlow Kilkenny count is due to resume at 9am and the Wicklow count at 10am.

0841 There are 35 seats left to fill: All 5 in Carlow Kilkenny, 4 in Cork South Central, 2 in Dún Laoghaire, 4 in Galway East, all 5 in Galway West, 3 in Kerry South, 5 in Laois Offaly, 2 in Louth and all 5 in Wicklow.

0827Joan Burton (Lab) says the new Government will have to move very rapidly in the country's interests.

0825Fine Gael's Alan Shatter tells Morning Ireland there is now a 'huge burden' on the party's shoulders.

0807 Morning Ireland is checking in with a number of counts around the country

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